Alphabetical A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z V van Loon, Hendrik Willem van Noort, Pieter Vasarely, Victor von Kalckreuth, Patrick Vos, Henk
Hendrik Willem van Loon 1882-1944 Dutch-American children’s book author and illustrator Hendrik Willem van Loon (January 14, 1882 – March 11, 1944) was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and award-winning children's book author and illustrator. From 1910, until his death, Van Loon wrote many books, illustrating them himself. Most widely known among these is ‘The Story of Mankind’ a history of the world especially for children, which won the first Newbery Medal in 1922. The book was later updated by Van Loon and has continued to be updated, first by his son and later by other historians. However, he also wrote many other very popular books aimed at young adults. As a writer he was known for emphasizing crucial historical events and giving a complete picture of individual characters, as well as the role of the arts in history. He also had an informal and thought provoking style which, particularly in The Story of Mankind, included personal anecdotes. As an illustrator of his own books, he was known for his lively black-and-white drawings and his chronological diagrams. After having revisited Germany many times in the 1920s, he was banned from the country when the Nazis came to power. His 1938 book Our Battle, Being One Man's Answer to "My Battle" by Adolf Hitler earned him the respect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in whose 1940 presidential campaign he worked, calling on Americans to fight totalitarianism. Top of Page
Pieter van Noort 1602-1672 Dutch artist Pieter van Noort was born in 1602 in the Netherlands, where he lived and worked until his death in 1672. His body of work consist primarily of trompe l’oeil still lives and genre scenes. His still lives often focus on the subject of hunting with dead birds and fish, which have just been killed. These dead animals are often accompanied the implements of hunting and fishing including guns, fishing rods and baskets and hunting dogs. His works are in the collections of major museums in the Netherlands including the Dordrecht Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Top of Page
Victor Vasarely 1908-1997 French/Hungarian affiliated Op-art, abstract expressionist French painter and printmaker of Hungarian birth, Vasarely was one of the leading figures in the development of geometric abstraction known as Op art, popular in Europe and the USA during the 1960s. He studied in Budapest at the Academy of Painting (1925-7) and under Alexander Bortnyk (1893-1977) at the Mühely Academy, also known as the Budapest Bauhaus (1929-30). In 1930 he moved to Paris and worked as a graphic designer for the next decade and was able to commit himself seriously to the task of devising a new pictorial language in the period following World War II. After what he regarded as a false start in 1944-6, he began the process of lengthy and methodical abstraction from particular features of his environment that resulted in his pure and individual style of the 1960s. Top of Page
Patrick von Kalckreuth 1898-1970 German maritime painter Patrick von Kalckreuth was born in Kiel, Germany as Patrick Dunbar. When his mother remarried in 1931, he took her new husbands name. Thus his earlier works are signed Patrick Dunbar, while those after 1931 are signed P. v. Kalckreuth. After a brief career as a seaman, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. His early works primarily show ships at sea, but he later focused more on the sea itself, frequently painting beautiful seascapes highlighted by crashing waves and sunsets. His paintings are displayed in several museums and galleries in North Germany. Von Kalckreuth died in 1970. Top of Page
Henk Vos b. 1946 Dutch equestrian painter Henk Vos was born in 1946 in Amsterdam, Holland. He studied at the Johannesburg School of Art and began his career as a commercial artist and newspaper cartoonist. In 1975, he became a full-time artist, specializing in wildlife. From 1982 onwards he concentrated on equestrian subjects. Vos was invited to exhibit at the World Wilderness Congress in 1977 and the Wildlife Artist of the World exhibition in 1985. Top of Page